healthy laps

It’s a gorgeous day in Boston, even though it is much colder than I would like it to be!  I love getting my weekend days started early because I feel so much more productive.  My plan was to hit the gym to get a weight session in after a 2 week hiatus.  I ate some toast with almond butter beforehand in order to fuel up with carbs before working out.

This wasn’t just any toast with AB!  I spotted some Manna Bread in the freezer case at my local health food store last week when I was looking for Millet bread and I decided to try it out.  I tried their new flavor –Banana Walnut Hemp.

I had read about this bread on some blogs and in some magazines, so I knew that it was a sprouted bread, but I had no idea what it would taste like.  On their website they describe Manna Bread as a cake-like, sprouted bread, free of salt, no oils, no sweeteners, no leavening agents.  The ingredient list is awesome!

Ingredients: sprouted organic wheat kernels, filtered water, organic dried bananas, organic walnuts, organic flaxseeds, organic hemp seeds.

The loaf is small, but definitely filling (which I discovered this morning).  It is almost smaller than my hand!

Since the loaf is frozen, I popped the entire thing in the microwave for 30 seconds.  I was able to cut off a few slices without having the whole loaf defrost.  This is loaded with bananas and walnuts!

I toasted the bread and topped it with a little almond butter for staying power at the gym.  This bread was absolutely delicious!  It was moist and flavorful, unlike the Ezekiel bread that I sometimes buy.  Each loaf has 6 servings, which each contain 140 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs, 12 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein.  Spread with a little nut butter makes this a great snack!  I will absolutely buy this again, and I can’t wait to try other flavors because they sound delicious – Carrot Raisin, Cinnamon Date, Fig Fennel Flax, Fruit and Nut, Millet Rice, Multigrain, Sunseed and Whole Rye.  They all sound out of this world!  YUM.

Anyways, enough about bread and on to my awesome workout.

I started with a total body weight session (about 35 minutes), which felt awesome after about 2 weeks off.  I do my full body weights as circuits in order to burn more calories while lifting weights.  Plus, it keeps it more interesting!

Total Body Weight Session

• 21’s (3 sets, 18 lb bar)
• Deadlifts with upright row (3 sets of 12, 18 lb bar)
• Chest press on bench (12.5 lb, 3 sets of 12) with Bicycle Crunches (3 sets of 15)
• Squats with overhead press (10 lb weights, 3 sets of 12)
• Lunges with side lift alternating with lunges with front raise (7.5 lb weights, 3 sets of 12 each leg)
• Triceps extension (10 lb weight, 3 sets of 12) with Triceps dip (3 sets of 12)
• Crunches on a ball (3 sets of 15) with Fly on ball (7.5 lb weights, 3 sets of 12)
• Triceps pullback on ball (12.5 lb weights, 3 sets of 12) with Frog crunches (3 sets of 15)

I followed my weights session with a 5 mile easy run on the treadmill.  It felt awesome to run, but my legs still do feel a little tired.  I plan to take it easy for the next week as well because they do say to do easy workouts for 13 days after a Half Marathon (1 day for each mile run).  I can’t wait to fit in some more swimming and spinning next week.

After the gym, I whipped up a fruit & protein smoothie for recovery.  The star of the show was a Mango Amazing Meal packet.  I really like the Amazing Grass products.  This meal packet contains lots of green superfoods, plant based protein, phytonutrient rich fruits & vegetables, digestive enzymes and probiotics.  Everything that your body needs!  The 10 grams of protein in the packet make it a good post workout snack.  It contains 110 calories, so you could just mix this up with water or milk to get your protein.  I just like to add more to my smoothies to make them more filling!

And, some frozen fruit.

Mango-Strawberry Protein Smoothie

• 1 packed Pomegranate Mango Amazing Meal
• 1 banana
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 8 frozen strawberries (on the small side)
• 1 cup almond milk

It was very good!  It had a very strong mango flavor with just a hint of berry.

I’m planning on some beet salad from last night on a bed of greens for lunch (the smoothie was awesome, but I’m already hungry again!), some study time, and then a fun beer tasting this afternoon!

See ya!

Filed under: Product Reviews, Running Laps | Tagged: amazing grass, manna bread, Running Laps, smoothie, weights |